“We all boarded for lunch in the Cotswolds,” says Derek Lavery, checking the names on his clipboard.
It’s 8am at Victoria Coach Station and I’m boarding the Premium Tours “Lunch in Britain’s Most Beautiful Village” bus to meet people who are persona non grata in at least one Cotswolds honeypot.
Perhaps predictably, I was the only Briton in a group of 48 people surrounded by a group of American, Australian, Chinese and Japanese tourists. 18 of the Americans have gathered together and are chatting amicably in the back rows.
“This is one of the best tours you can take of the British countryside. We’ll see some of the most beautiful scenery in the country and have lunch in a great pub,” Lavery continues. And with that, we set off.
Buses like this are facing a ban in Bourton-on-the-Water, a village of more than 3,000 residents that attracts large numbers of tourists. Around 238,000 visitors come to Bourton each year to experience the sights and sounds of this medieval village with its picturesque Cotswolds limestone houses, the shallow Windrush River perfect for rowing and old-fashioned English pub grub.
The proposed ban would prevent bus access but has not yet been formally signed off by the highways authority at Gloucestershire County Council. However, a de facto ban has already been implemented.
An old car park near the city center was closed in December, and the new car park opened in February has no space for buses to park. They should either use unofficial drop-off points, which are a pain to get back to, or – like we did – skip Bourton altogether.
‘Only they will lose’
“It’s such a shame,” says Sue, who traveled from South Australia with her 11-year-old grandson. “I probably visited once about 30 years ago and it’s a lovely town. But they are all beautiful. If they don’t want tourists there, there are plenty of other places to go. “I wasn’t too disappointed.”
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Lavery says when I ask him about the plans. “They will be the only losers. Bourton-on-the-Water is a very beautiful and picturesque place, but there is nothing there. If they exclude tourists the whole village will collapse. “All the bars, cafes, restaurants, shops are gone.”
Instead we spend more time in the surrounding villages: Burford, Stow-on-the-Wold and Bibury, “Britain’s most beautiful village”, our lunch break.
The two-hour drive from London to the Cotswolds is fairly ordinary, but Lavery regales us with a host of facts and anecdotes covering everything from the Cotswolds’ famous residents to the sheep farming scene.
“I love him, he’s so cute!” exclaims Jessica, a Californian “in her 50s.” Although she has visited the UK once before, this is her first time outside London and she “can’t get over how beautiful it is”.
Bourton-on-the-Water’s avoidance of bus tours has not been met with full support from locals. Bar owners, café owners and souvenir shop vendors have already expressed their disappointment, and neighboring villages are also seeing the bright side of the situation.
“Bourton’s loss is our gain,” shrugs the woman behind the cash registers at the sweet shop in Burford. “Tourists are not a problem here, they come in the middle of the morning and leave at 4pm. It’s not like we overdid it.”
Our tour group arrives in Burford at 10.30am, next to the Priory, which is owned by the newspaper magnate’s daughter, Elizabeth Murdoch. Lavery points out the medieval church, the toilets and where to buy a local delicacy: lard cake, currants and a sweet, toasted sweetbread.
My fellow visitors were fascinated. “In 1978 – I loved meeting the locals – oh the stories,” says retired California sheriff Michael Baker, who leads their group, excitedly noting that several members of the American party have visited before. “It hasn’t changed a bit. Very nice. This is what you want to see when you go to Britain. I can live here easily. Easily.”
Then get on the bus again.
We stop for lunch at The Swan Brasserie in Bibury. It is a picturesque and luxurious small hotel located in greenery next to the River Coln. Across the water, I spy Arlington Row, a small parade of 14th-century limestone houses owned by the National Trust and rented to locals.
There is a group of Japanese tourists taking photos. Bibury is especially popular among Japanese because the country’s crown prince visited here in 1921 during his European tour. He loved Bibury so much that he spoke fondly of it when he returned to his country, and the village became famous in Japan.
At lunch, the idea of visiting a true English “pub” (never mind the dining room of a country hotel) creates visible excitement among other visitors. Lavery needs to explain the rules for ordering at the bar as there is some confusion.
We were given three options: fried chicken and mashed potatoes, fish pie and wontons, followed by sticky toffee pudding or crumble cake. Properly British (except for the dumplings). Lunch is included in the ticket price, but a quick look at the Swan’s a la carte menu shows that it would probably cost around £30 per person if we had just arrived. We may not be contributing a fortune to the Cotswolds economy, but we spent the day relaxing in cafes, tearooms and gift shops. On the bus, I can see my fellow passengers wrapped in everything from local sheepskins to woven baskets, sweets, books and waxed jackets. They all add up.
It’s also worth noting that bus tour groups like ours provide a steady stream of diners to places like The Swan, even out of season. Premium Tours operates all year round, rain or shine. Today’s 48-year-old group is slightly above average, but 25-40 is a typical size, according to Lavery.
An old cliché in the Cotswolds, at least since the 1960s when coach tours began in earnest, is that although it’s impossible to find weekday lunch in these parts, tourists don’t tend to worry about booking dinner; By then we will have already turned into a coach. One could argue that this isn’t the worst trade in the world.
Lunch goes well, although it is served a little late. “All of this works with mechanical precision,” Lavery told me. “If a bus tour is 10 minutes late, that delays their service and that pushes everyone back.” Still, Americans are happy with how British everything is.
From there we would normally head to Bourton-on-the-Water but instead we will head straight to Stow-on-the-Wold. The Norman market town is the epitome of the chocolate box. At its core, it seems almost straight out of foreigners’ wildest dreams as an example of what Britain is all about.
Stow-on-the-Wold is as much enjoyed as Burford and Bibury. The group dutifully lines up to take selfies in front of the church, where two yew trees grow on either side of the gate (said to be the inspiration for the Gates of Moria in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings), and I hear cheery voices from the gift shops. and antique stores while wandering around for an hour.
Local reaction to tourists in Stow seems more like grudging acceptance than enthusiasm. Paul Worthy, who dropped off some handmade gifts at the charity shop, says: “It can be difficult in traffic and it’s a bit annoying being in the background while taking selfies every time I go somewhere, but in the end they pay the bills.”
Having grown up in a tourist area, I appreciate the concerns of parishioners in Bourton-on-the-Water. At best, overtourism is a terrible nuisance that prevents local people from enjoying the homes and amenities; At worst, it raises prices, hollows out communities, and pits people against each other.
Still, having had a frankly enjoyable bus tour experience, I can’t help but feel that Bourton has chosen to ignore the wrong side of tourism. My compatriots on the tour were interested, engaged, respectful and prepared to pay £121 for a day trip and were wealthy enough to visit local shops and restaurants. We never outstayed our welcome anywhere, staying in every village long enough without falling under anyone’s feet.
Okay, so a big bus can back up traffic for a few minutes, but what’s worse; One bus or 24 cars blocking the roads? Best of all, we set off at 4am, allowing the locals to enjoy the area in peace.
Jack joined Premium Tours’ ‘Lunch in Britain’s Most Beautiful Village’ bus tour, starting from London Victoria Coach Station and visiting Burford, Bibury and Stow-on-the-Wold.